Refused to stage?

FebPenguins

A bit of background: My mom found a lump during a self exam. She is pre menopausal and will be 50 in March. She had a mamogram, then an ultrasound then she went on to have a biopsy. All of this she did "secrectly" during the holidays. When she was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma grade 2 ER&PR+, she finally told us. She was told on Friday and had a lumpectomy the following week. They took a tangerine size piece of tissue and 6-12 nodes. She spent the night in the hosptial on extended observation. She had a drain tube for over a week that is now gone.

My mother's surgeon refused to "stage" her cancer saying it was "misleading". After her lumpectomy they told her numbers like this: T1N3M0. I understand T is for tumor N is for nodes and M is for mastisized (spread). The week of the 18th she will be meeting with the surgeon for follow up, her chiropractor and the oncologist (1st visit ). We expect to be told she will require chemo, radiation and hormone drugs.

I want to know what stage she is so I can do more research! Anyone have a best guess? Is it the oncologist job to stage?

MelissaDallas

Hi Febpenguins. I'm sorry about your mom being diagnosed. Here is some info on staging. I believe they will also schedule her for some scans to rule out metastasis, but I'm not positive.



http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging

Moderators

Hi FebPenguins, and welcome to Breastcancer.org.

You'll probably hear from other members about their experiences, but in the meantime the main Breastcancer.org site has helpful information about staging, and the TNM staging system and its interpretation and use.

• The Mods

FebPenguins

So, MelissaDallas, would you agree, IIA?

Oh, and I should add she has also had internal ultrasound on cervix/ovarys. And her Pap smear came back all clear. They did find cysts on both ovarys. Not causing pain. And she has had a chest xray and they did find two small spots they can't tell what exactly they are.

exbrnxgrl

Many oncs do not routinely order scans to check for mets if there is no reason to believe that the cancer has metastasized. Scans carry their own risks of exposure to radiation which many like to avoid. Even for those who already have mets, there are great variations in how often and which scans we get, according to our circumstances and oncs views on this. I am sorry to hear about your mother but regardless of stage, there are many treatments available and lots of reasons for hope.

Caryn

Chickadee

Hi febpenguins, its thoughtful that you want to research for your mom. Take some time also to ask mom what kind of support she wants from her family. It sounds as if she does value her privacy given her initial "secrecy".

ballet12

I believe that the surgeon would give the stage, or if not, the oncologist.  Look over the TNM rating system (link above) and compare those numbers to the chart.  While that won't give you an actual stage, it will give you some idea.  The surgeon should give you the exact size of the tumor, the number of nodes involved (if any) and then the stage.  There are other staging charts that can help you find the stage if you have the tumor size and node situation.  There is probably one of those on the bco website or other places.  Maybe the surgeon is waiting to do scans before giving a stage.

I wish you and your mother the best during this journey.

FebPenguins

She says her secrecy had to do with not having a diagnosis~there was nothing to tell (her exact words) and she found it dec 9, before the holidays. She has been very open since i believe and hope.

MelissaDallas

My parents do that too. They never tell us about any scares or tests until after they are over.

PaulAndSandy

Did you ever find anymore info out from your mother's oncologists? It is sometimes quite hard to stage the cancer until they've completed a bunch of tests and scans but looking at the TNM score you gave above, I would guess it would be a Stage III based simply on the lymph node involvement score which is quite high in this case. The TNM shows no mets so it wouldn't be Stage IV but with the substantial node involvement, I would say Stage III but again, that's only a guess. Only her doctor's would be able to give you an exact stage. It's also important to know the grade of the cancer, whether it be Grade 1, 2, or 3 because that determines how abnormal the cancer cells look which is usually indicative of how aggressive the cancer is.

I wish you and your mother the very best and please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

- Paul